Day 245, Year 11: Camp Oma Off and Running
Date: Thursday, June 23, 2016
Weather: Clear; High Temp 79 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio #8, Falmouth, MA
Yesterday was the last day of school for Sam and Jonah, so Day Two of Camp Oma was off and running and included all three boys plus a few neighborhood friends. We decided that for the first ‘free’ day the boys should just be able to stay home and play. And that they did. Sam’s friend Zack who lives just around the corner came over early and Molly and Joey from next door followed right behind. So there were really six children at the Goldstone ‘homestead’ most of the day, but they played so nicely together that having the extra children was not a burden. In fact, I think it is easier to have the ‘extras’—that way they can mix and match and no one is ever left out. I spent most of my time doing laundry for Heather and Jed as the kids really took care of themselves. I did fix lunch for them and delivered to the picnic table in the backyard. The kids had been playing Army all morning, so I told them lunch was being delivered to the mess hall. They loved it. There was one little problem just after lunch, but with the help of Melissa next door, we resolved that and continued on. After lunch the kids decided they wanted to set up a lemonade stand. We had no frozen lemonade in the freezer, so I told them they would have to go next door and see if Melissa wanted to support their endeavor. She must have mixed the lemonade for them and I gave them money to make change and did a little mini-lesson about borrowing money from the bank and then sent them out to do their thing. Jonah came back inside to make some signs and then I heard them hawking their goods. “Lemonade, lemonade. Ten cents a cup.” Oh yes, I did help Sam find some paper cups, but we had only a few. But it was enough for them to make over $8.00 in about half an hour. Bikers stopped and truckers stopped and got out of their trucks to buy their lemonade. Everyone game them way more than 10 cents a cup, but they were delighted with their success. Each of the six kids made $1.35. I helped Sam divvy up the money and made sure he paid back the bank. But that’s all I had to do. It was a low-key day, but a great beginning to the summer. And I must mention that both Sam and Jonah ended their school year yesterday on a high. At the end-of-the-year award ceremony, Sam got to read his award winning haiku poem and Jonah was awarded an Academic Excellence award and was named PeaceBuilder of the year for his classroom. So both boys were feeling really good about the world today.
Mark stayed at the apartment all day and had a good time unpacking a few boxes and going for a two mile walk. He is so happy here in the apartment that I don’t worry about leaving him all day. It really is the perfect place for us just now. He walked to CVS to get sunscreen, walked to a Radio Shack to get an FM antenna for a radio he unpacked, and in doing so discovered a little Italian Deli with all sorts of goodies. And I have to mention how much I am enjoying the kitchen. I cannot believe how much easier and faster it is to cook dinner in a land kitchen versus on the boat. This kitchen is laid out a little like the galley on Windbird, just bigger. It is a small kitchen, but it is so much bigger than the galley on Windbird that it feels luxurious. It takes me about half the time it would on the boat too prepare food. I love it.
Tomorrow is a beach day with the boys and Sunday is Jonah’s birthday party, but on Saturday we will spend the day at home unpacking more boxes. Fun, fun, fun.
